A thousand cranes
by atalanta108
Summary: She wasn't docile, ignorant or malleable. She wasn't going to be what people wanted her to be. Not everything is as it seems. Different timeframe.Fem!27
1. Childhood Arc I

She angrily pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes,inhaling a stuttering breath as she tried to stop the ugly sounds from escaping her mouth.

 **In...out...in...out...in...out...in...out...in...out...in...out...please,please just stop...**

She did the breathing exercise repeatedly,just like how mama taught her when she got lost in the streets months ago.

When she significantly calmed down,her sweaty palms slid down her face to gently rest on her rumpled skirt,her body slumped on the ground as she tiredly leaned her head on the trunk of the tree behind her,gazing blankly at the afternoon sky.

She almost didn't want to go back home,having no energy to even stand up or move.A sudden noise caught her attention,realizing quickly that it came from her frowned as a wave of hunger washed through her along with the unwelcome memories of why she wasn't able to eat her mama's delicious cooking.

She bit her lip,and after a few more minutes of just sitting there on the dirty ground,finally stood up and brushed her clothes to clean it as much as possible before walking to the small fountain of the park near the school she had taken as refuge and splashed the water gathered in her cupped pale hands on her face repeatedly.

She looked attentively around the quiet park and once deeming it empty of any passerby,carefully turned her skirt around,so that the back was at then grimaced at the dark stain on the back of the skirt of her school uniform,eyeing it for a moment,before wetting it and rubbing her fingers against the dirty patch and sighed when she failed at removing it.

Mama would be so disappointed in her.

She went back to her hiding place to retrieve her school bag and after a moment of deliberation,placed it in front of her skirt to hide the dark spot and headed home.

"Tadaima"she quietly called after entering her later,the soft padding of footsteps resonated down the corridor before her mama's beaming face greeted her.

"Okaeri,Chi-chan"her mama happily responded back."Did something wrong happen?You're rather late."she asked worriedly.

Her cheeks felt hot and she run her tongue over her front teeth as she stared at her mama's concerned chocolate brown eyes,embarrassment and shame churning in her stomach.

"I just tripped a few times on the way home,mama"she said with a sheepish smile- _fake,a voice faintly whispered-_ on her face"is there anything to eat?I am really hungry"she asked before the older woman could question her couldn't bear lying to her mama more than necessary.

Her mama sighed at her with fond exasperation.

"Oh,Chi-chan.I'll go prepare you something to eat, wash yourself,alright?"

She nodded before hurriedly going to her room.

She tossed her schoolbag at the front before locking herself in the immediately opened the faucet of the shower,stripped her clothes and entered the shower with her skirt and underwear in hand.

She sighed contently as the warm water soothed the tensions on her body,joints and limbs relaxing and allowed herself to sit down,back touching the almost cold glass wall,creating an almost mirror copy of the event inner tighs were stiffened when she noticed the water swirling on the floor become a light red,knowing that it couldn't come from just her dirty clothes ,so she run a finger over the slit of her vagina and grimaced in disgust at the _thing_ she found when she pulled back her was covered in a slimy dark red substance that couldn't possibly be blood,it was too solid and strange though it was the same frowned and decided to ignore it for now.

She took the liquid soap to her left and poured a generous amount at her clothes,imitating what her mama did that one time their washing machine broke and mama had to wash with her bare hands one of her dirty school uniforms.

"Chi-chan,hurry up!The food will get cold"

She startled abruptly at the sudden voice coming from the other side of the door.

"10 minutes,mama!"she said loudly in response,eyes wide in panic and heart beating faster as she stood up and put shampoo on,deciding to forgo using the conditioner as she hurriedly washed herself with soap-making sure to also remove the remaining slimy red thing on her body-and when any trace of shampoo and soap or questionable substances had been washed away,she dried her body with her fluffy towel and combed her shoulder lenght hair,quickly putting some clothes on and made sure to roll over many strips of tissue on her exited quickly the bathroom and her room and run down, tripping during her descent of the stairs and landing none too gently on the thankfully carpeted floor.

"Chi-chan!"mama's voice said loudly from the kitchen"how many times do i have to tell you again to not run down the stairs?Now come here and eat."

"Hai,mama"she responded meekly as she obbediently went to the kitchen at a more sedate pace,adjusting her underwear subtly and running her hand on her backside to make sure it was not in any way wet.

Her stomach growled once again at the mouth-watering smells drifting through the air and she hungrily eyed the food placed on the dining table.

"Itadakimasu"

She ate the food contently,mama humming in the background to the beat of the song playing at the radio for the moment as she cleaned the stove and she could almost forget her tighs' ache for a moment.

"How was school,Chi-chan?Were there any tests?Did you do well on them?Did you make any friends today?Did you like your lunch?"mama asked her cheerily and her shoulder drooped at the unwanted questions,knowing the other wouldn't like any of her chewed slowly and sipped her jasmine tea after blowing on licked her front teeth,sighing in defeat.

"It was fine, how about you?Is the bakery doing alright?"she asked.

Mama chattered happily about the bakery,saying how it was full of costumers and progressing nicely."Would you like me to bring you something for dessert,tonight?This weeks' special is beyond delicious,you should try it!"And as per usual,mama asked her weekly question.

She agreed to the proposition without never said no to the other,after all,when it came to 'Fate's Bakery',knowing how important it was to her mama,especially since it was one of the only things mama could expect to never change without her explicit order and was the owner of the bakery and the one who tends to it lovingly every single day without fail.

She sometimes felt as though it was the most important thing to the older woman whenever she would talk about it proudly,but she always made sure to stuff these thoughts away in a dark and forgotten corner of her mind.

Mama beamed at her and she found her own lips curling up in response.  
It was fine.  
She could deal with it.  
She was long used to it anyway.


	2. Childhood Arc II

Giggles and mocking whispers came from behind her and she swallowed roughly as her eyes burned,a hand clenching her wrist tightly,blunt fingernails digging the delicate flesh.

"Well,Sawada-kun?" an impatient voice said from the front of the class"We certainly don't have the entire day."

She met Wasanabi-sensei's hard stare for a second,before lowering it to the ground quickly as another round of laughter was heard from her classmates,though for an entirely different reason from the first ona,making the only man in the room sighed before quieting the class.

"Sit down,Sawada-kun." he told her with a dismissive wave of a hand in her direction.

She slumped on her seat,feebly too aware of the stares and mean jeering directed at her and glanced at the grey clock above the door,counting down the minutes desperately and felt relieved when the almost obnoxiously loud bell rung three times,signaling lunch break to all and promptly bugun packing her backpack and immediately bolted for the door as the others around her stood up and chatted with each other,a bento in , she was walking towards the direction of the nearest bathroom,nearly running,praying not to encounter anyone at all.

She frowned when she noticed a group of girls from another class in front of her and quickly changed next nearest bathroom was the one at the ground floor so she quickly descended the stairs,hand gripping the railing entered the thankfully empty bathroom and went to the last cubicle,locking it behind shoved down her underwear and found it completely covered in sat at the toilet bowl,holding her skirt up with a hand as she thought of what to eyes begun stinging again,the mortification and helplessness from earlier returning full didn't know what to do.

A drop fell on her bare thigh and before she knew it,she was crying once again.

"Hello?What's wrong?Please open up." a soothing and mature voice gently asked."I'm Suzume-sensei,the school nurse.I can help you,if you're hurt."

She stared wide eyed at the door,surprised by the other's many people were inside the school building during lunch after all,favoring to stay outside at the courtyard to watch and cheer for the practicing sport sniffed,wiping her tears away and ignored the request,waiting for the person to frowned when she didn't hear any retreating footsteps or creaking door,but instead the light sigh of the other feminine voice started speaking again when she realized that she wasn't going to respond.

"You know,when i was in high school,i once locked myself for three whole hours straight in the toilet when my crush broke my heart,crying miserably as my friends tried and failed at comforting me each time they requested going to the bathroom during their lessons.I had spent the previous night trying to prepare the perfect chocolates,trowing away the failed batches-i have never been good at home economics back then and I can't honestly say that I have improved,because quite frankly, I still am a terrible cook-until I resigned myself to giving him the chocolate I bought from the store,so I unpacked them from their original box and put them in my green wrapping was Valentine's Day,so like the majority of the girls I decided to confess to him.I put some make up on and did my hair nicely,i searched him at lunch break and found him at the rooftop.A girl was confessing to him and I thought,i mean,i was pretty sure that he would reject her like all the others before her and felt pity and glee at the same time,but then he said that he liked her too and they kissed.I felt crushed and like they say the rest was you know what?I don't regret not being that girl,because two weeks later it turned out that he broke up with her and got into another i've heard of him is that he's bald,living in Tokyo with his dog and divorced with his certainly had it coming."

She didn't know what to feel at the story,on one hand she felt bad for Suzue-sensei and on the other hand,she didn't really understand why she got told this since it wasn't particularly funny,so cheering her up wasn't likely the reason,but nonetheless she felt better now that she wasn't thinking of her stood up and winced at the burning of her legs,leaning herself on the wall beside her as she put back on her dirty and drenched turned around and saw the water of the toilet bowl had turned crimson,so she flashed it and opened the door.

A woman,older than she had first imagined,stood in front of her with a reassuring smile on her was rather short-but then again,the majority of japanese people were short-,her hair a dark brown,almost black color with a few streaks of grey on it and dirt brown eyes,she also had laugh lines on her face and was wearing the nami elementary nurse uniform.

She turned around again when she remembered her school bag to get it and heard a surprised and understanding sound come from behind unconsciously stiffened in discomfort.

"Don't worry,sweet girl,this is a normal occurrence for every girl out there and i must congratulate you for reaching the first step of becoming a woman."

She turned rapidly around to face the woman,staring at her with puzzled and relieved eyes.

"Y-you mean th-there's nothing wrong with m-me?" her voice was rough and hoarse so she coughed and swallowed to make it somewhat better.

The woman,Suzue-sensei,merely smiled calmly at her and gestured at her to follow."Yes,don't worry,sweet girl.I have sets of uniforms back at the infirmary so you can change while I explain it to 's your name?"

She blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she haven't introduced herself yet."Sawada Chiyohime,a pleasure to meet you,Suzue-sensei" she bowed politely.

"And thank you for helping me"


	3. Enter:Sawada Nana

Nana loved her baby girl.

How could she not?She was the greatest gift her husband had ever given her and would undoubtedly remain the best one.

Since she was a child,she had constantly dreamed of having a big family,but miscarriages and miscarriages had teared her dream piece by piece of ever achieving it.A real family,not just her husband and her-and many times only her-living in their spacious and quiet house but a big one,where the house would be filled with joyous laughter and exasperating arguments.

She had been an only child,growing up with caring grandparents since her mother had died giving birth to her,her father had remarried and her stepmother didn't want her in the scene,but she had been happy,though and she felt that,that was the most important thing( _she was happy,she repeatedly told herself)._ She always knew that it was improbable accomplishing her dream because of her family's unfortunate luck with childbirth.

Her mother was in fact an only child like her,her grandpa too,and her great grandma and many more of her ancestors way back.

It was why she wasn't terribly surprised when all her babies died _died_ **died.** It seemed,though,that she was even more unlucky than all of her ancestors put together,because her number of miscarriages had been that high that she was sure she would never get to hold a baby of her own.

She can't remember how many sleepless nights she had spent grieving.

Her husband had been a blessing then,always comforting her and staying by her side,choosing her over work for once and never giving her the impression that he wanted to leave her.

It made her love him even more.

Then a miracle happened,Chiyohime was born,healthy and so perfect it made her cry and to honor her ancestors and the gods for finally gifting her a child,she named her baby Chiyo and since her husband wanted something fancy,they added the 'hime' part.

For a time everything had been perfect,just like the fairytales she loved.

Their daughter was perfect.

But then,a few months later,he left for work and of course,she should have expected that since he had spent too much time away from work and had to pay the price. She was just sad that he couldn't see all of their child's achievements,so she sent him pictures of every single important moment of their baby growing up without fail.

He loved the pictures and he loved them even more,he always told her.

She wasn't oblivious to the ugly rumors surrounding her family and the thing that saddened her the most and made her secretly cry at night in her empty bedroom when her child was asleep,was the fact that maybe,just maybe they were true.

That her husband must have another family abroad,a perfect one since she wasn't capable of producing more than one child and thus capable of making her husband happy or satisfied.

 _She's a gold-digger._

 _I heard that the only reason that handsome young man ever married her was because of her pregnancy._

 _What a manipulative slut,no wonder he left her._

 _I still feel sorry for him,though._

 _Yeah,he certainly doesn't deserve such a fake woman._

She always ignored them and pretended to be oblivious to their venomous whispers,a smile painted on her face.

Her husband loved her.

He didn't have another family.

She wasn't his mistress.

He didn't abandon her,he was merely working very hard for their family to make sure she and Chi-chan had a wonderful and easy life together.

It was also why she was constantly working hard on her bakery,so that she wouldn't feel useless and maybe,just maybe her income would be enough to make him pause work to come back home for a bit.

She missed him.

There wasn't a day where she wouldn't remember him by seeing little things that reminded her of their sweet time together.

The couples in her bakery,the scent of sweets that reminded her of their first meeting.

Even their child had a strong resemblance to him,her Italian blood obviously strong with that mane of sunlight hair,high cheekbones and tall body.

Her little Chi-Chan would certainly grow up to be a stunning woman,she thought proudly.

Yes,Sawada Nana,wife of Sawada Iemitsu and mother of Sawada Chiyohime was happy.

That didn't explain,of course,why she was drinking a glass of one of her husband's favourite brandy.

A happy woman wouldn't obviously drink a glass of alcohol,much less a third of a bottle daily,especially when she had an impressionable child just a few hours away from returning home.

But she always made sure to clean herself up before her daughter even stepped a foot out of the school grounds,so it didn't matter as long as her loving and innocent,little Chiyo didn't suspect anything.

It was all fine.

She was a responsible mother after all.


	4. Pre-Reborn Arc III

An impatient silence enveloped all the classrooms of Namimori's elementary school,unblinking eyes fixed on their clocks as they waited for the long hand to strike 12.

 _Tick...tock...tick...tock...tick...tock...tick...tock..._

Everyone held their breath.

 _Ring...ring...ring..._

The moment the bell rang,cheers and squeals exploded from all students and quite a few teachers.

It was summer break!

Students and teachers both,immediately rushed out of the building,intent on savoring and enjoying their vacation.

Excited and merry chatter flowed around her as she eagerly made her way to the bakery.

She carefully avoided every harried passerby,stopping patiently at the sidewalk as the light turned red.

No homework and troublesome classmates for a few months! She loved summer break,she thought excitedly as she imagined beaches and spending time with mama together.

She walked towards the other side of the road simultaneously with the other people as the light turned green and headed towards the familiar way to the bakery,the streets turning quieter along the way.

She spotted the white with the orange writing board on top of a light red door and entered the shop,a bell chiming pleasantly as the lovely scents of sweets assaulted her senses.

"Chi-chan!"Mama greeted her happily from the counter and she made her way over,not looking back at the stares the customers gave her as she smiled at her mother.

"Can I help?"She asked softly.

Her mother's smile widened at her daughter's willingness to help as she nodded.

"I'm sure Saki-chan would be delighted to have an extra pair of hands."

The mother-daughter duo spent the remaining hours of the afternoon in the bakery before heading home with a cake in hand.

* * *

She shrieked when a dose of water drenched her face,playfully splashing in the direction it came from,grinning widely when she heard laughter only to splutter when a wave drowned her.

She swam up and met the amused faces of her companions,mock-glowering at them.

Mama and her had gone to the beach with the other staffs of the bakery and their families,and it was the most fun she had ever spent with other children,even if she couldn't quite call them children since they were years older than her and the youngest one aside from her was only starting elementary school this year.

They were way more nice than her classmates had ever been,though.

A shout from the beach beckoned their attention and she looked over to see one of the parents waving.

"It must be lunchtime,guys." Taru-senpai said,the only son of Saki-san.

He was nice to her just like his mother and was going on his third year of middle school after summer in her same school.

Groans of protests sounded from all of them,but they nonetheless swam back.

Taru-senpai smiled at her and helped her swim back.

He was the one to patiently teach her and the others who didn't know how to swim earlier when she had shyly confessed her problem.

She liked his smile a lot,especially when it was directed only at her.

The adults prepared barbeque,much to the enjoyment of everyone.

The pre-teens and teenagers all sat on the sand in a circle,a considerable distance from the parents,plates on their lap as some proposed some games to play.

They eventually decided on 'Spin the bottle'.

Whoever got pointed by the tap of the bottle would be the one to do the truth or dare,while the one pointed by the other side of the bottle would decide what the other player had to do or respond to.

It was her first time playing this game,she hoped she wouldn't mess this up.

One of the other kids spun the bottle and the game begun.

It was only on the third spin that she got involved.

She got thankfully pointed by the bottom part while the other end pointed a girl around Taru-san's age.

The other girl chose dare.

She licked her front teeth thoughtfully,before deciding.

"I dare you to talk with the lifeguard with the blue shirt and learn his name and favorite something."

She had noticed the looks the older girl had been shooting at the high schooler boy.

The girl's cheeks bloomed a cherry red as the others hooted and cheered,making her huff as she slowly stood up and they watched as she approached the older boy nervously.

She returned five minutes later with a dreamy smile.

"His name is Sasashi Daisuke-san and he likes really cute girls like me." She squealed giddily,hands pressed on her red cheeks.

When the tap finally pointed at her a few spins later,she boldly chose dare.

"I dare you to dance the Gangnam style on top of the table." A boy said mischievously as he fiddled through his phone to play the song.

She instantly regretted her decision but complied anyway.

It ended up surprisingly fun since the others didn't mock her meanly like she thought and they all ended up dancing together to the song three times.

It was definitely one of the best days ever.

* * *

She attentively studied the map as she walked through the streets of the town next to Namimori to go back to the station.

She had been sent by mama to the market to get her some ingredients since she had nothing to do and couldn't find any coconut oil. One of the vendors told her that they were all sold a few days ago and the shipment hadn't arrived yet,but had helpfully suggested a few other shops so here she was.

She sighed when she realized that she was lost.

Thankfully enough,she had the foresight of bringing back home the other groceries so she wouldn't be burdened by them right now,but at least she had the coconut oil.

She stopped to sit down on a bench in a near desolate park to rest herself.

That was when she noticed the autumn red hair in the corner of her eyes and she whipped her head curiously in that direction.

There was a boy sitting on another old bench in the park,petting a fluffy grey cat feeding from a can of what she assumed was cat food.

He had red hair,just like autumn and looked to be near her age.

While she had always looked more mature than all of her classmates due to her foreign blood,it was still rather easy to tell when others of her age group were near her.

He looked terribly lonely and her heart clenched with empathy when the thought crossed her mind.

Maybe they could be friends together?

They could understand each other's pains and struggles more so than others who couldn't simply because they didn't go through what they did.

As wrong as it was,she couldn't help but greedily hope that he was like her.

Surprised red carmine eyes connected with determined amber orbs.

She stood up and approached the other boy,stopping in front of him.

The grey cat had stopped eating and was instead regarding her with narrowed yellow eyes,but she paid it no mind as she smiled at the red-haired boy,bowing politely since mama had always told her first impressions were important.

"Good morning,my name is Sawada Chiyohime,but you can call me Chiyo. A pleasure to meet you."

* * *

 ** _A.N._**

 ** _Please feel free to tell me of any errors (grammatical,ecc.) and review if you have any questions._**

 ** _Next chapter would be a bit more dark and emotional._**

 ** _Prelude:_**

 ** _Sawada Chiyo was a coward._**

 ** _It was a fact she wasn't afraid or embarrassed to admit out loud, if asked._**

 ** _That didn't mean she wasn't ashamed of it, though._**

 ** _How could she not, when every time she heard the wailing cries and pained shouts and broken glass, she would merely huddle under her thick blankets and close her eyes,praying for it to be over and forcing sleep to claim her mind._**


	5. Enter:Sawada Chiyo (part 1)

**_..._** _**Red Columbine**_ _ **...**_

* * *

Chiyo closed her eyes tightly, hands gripping the pillow tightly, pressing it to her chest as she counted her heartbeats with single-minded focus.

She ignored the pained sobs that drifted from the living room.

She ignored the crashing glasses.

She ignored the distressed feeling in her chest.

She ignored, she ignored, she ignored.

It felt like it was the only thing she ever knew how to do in these moments.

She just wished it would stop.

* * *

 _ **...Cinquefoil...**_

* * *

Sawada Chiyohime grew up feeling loved by her mother ( _She never knew she needed someone else aside from her mama, not until grade school, at least_ ).

Her mama was positively the center of her universe, she followed her words as though they were the truth and nothing else but the truth with wide, innocent and doe-like eyes.

She was the one that cared for her during infancy, who tucked her to bed and read her fairytales every single night without fail.

It was impossible not growing to love her.

She grew up with tales of a prince saving the princess while riding on a beautiful white horse, easily beating the dragon and then the prince and the princess would fall in love and live happily ever after. She always hung on every word that left her mama's pink lips, mesmerized by the adventures and true love that the characters experienced.

As a child, she would always dream of gorgeous silk dresses, balls and a prince charming ( _the idea of it enchanted her, back then)._

Her mama always got an odd face at the end of the fairytales ( _It would be years later, when she didn't view the world through rose-tinted glasses anymore, that she would recognize that expression as bitter wistfulness.)_.

* * *

 _ **...Marjoram...**_

* * *

Her childhood was like a fairytale, now that she thought about it.

But ( _there was always a but, wasn't there?)_ then, she grew up and learned that the outside world was like having a bunch of mean step-sisters and evil step-mothers, minus the familial connection, seeing them invariably shoot her and her mother not so subtle sneering looks or judging glances.

 _I heard from my okaa-san that Sawada-kun doesn't have an otou-san._

 _My mother said that her father probably left because they weren't good enough._

 _He must have left because he couldn't tolerate his daughter._

It was unpleasant hearing them say such things about her family and Chiyo had felt as though she had learned much more from a day at school about her 'papa' than she ever did from her mama.

But still, she continued on, paying them no more attention than necessary, knowing - hoping - that it was a huge, fake lie.

What else could it all be than a lie?

It was a lie.

It was.

 _It must be_.

* * *

 _ **...Meadowsweet...**_

* * *

She wished constantly that they would just stop, that someone, a sensei or a classmate, even, would just shut them up.

But wishes, she learned bitterly, are only granted in fairy tales.

* * *

 _ **...Canary Grass...**_

* * *

She never said a word about the whispers to her mother, knowing that it would only distress the older woman further and she could never do that to her mama.

So she continued on.

* * *

 ** _...Manchineal..._**

* * *

And then arrived a blonde-haired - so similar to hers - man, storming in her life with a bouquet of white roses (her mama's favorite) in hand and a big smile in his face that the pretty, pretty fairytale that had been her world shattered into a million of pieces like cheap glass.

.

.

.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the short chapter, everyone, but this is only part one.**_

 _ **Here is the list of the flower meanings:**_

 _ **Red Columbine: anxious and trembling.**_

 _ **Cinquefoil: maternal affection, beloved daughter.**_

 _ **Marjoram: delusion, illusion.**_

 _ **Meadowsweet: uselessness.**_

 _ **Canary Grass: perseverance.**_

 _ **Manchineal: falsehood.**_


	6. Childhood Arc VI

"Come on, Enma-kun!"

Chiyo pushed her legs harder against the sandy pavement, swinging higher and higher as her hair danced along the air with her, smiling widely at her _friend_ in exhilaration.

 _Her first friend._

The red-haired boy sitting on the swing beside her mimicked her movements quickly, a grin stretching on his face. She laughed happily, looking at the wide blue sky above them, hands clenched securely around the thick ropes, feeling warm inside when she heard a shy but nonetheless bright laugh from her left.

She still couldn't believe that she had a friend now! Ske just knew it, they were going to be friends forever and grow old together.

It was fate that they met on that cloudy, normal Sunday at this very park. Her mama was right, after all, Chiyo just had to be patient and soon enough she would have a friend to play and spend the afternoons with.

She just wished that they could go to the same school together. Maybe she could convince mama to transfer her?

"Oi, Loser-Enma! Get off, it's my turn, now!" A boy slightly older than them shouts loudly, sneering at her now slouching and nervous friend, having stopped swinging when he caught sight of the boys coming in their direction.

She frowned as she dug her feet at the floor to stop her swing, annoyed at her friend's behalf.

"He was here first. You can take my place." She told him, standing up.

Enma whipped his head rapidly to look at her, eyes wide in surprise, immediately shaking his head.

"N-no, Chiyo-chan," he told her timidly, head bowed and gaze fixed sadly at the ground. "I-it's fine. He c-can take m-my place. You don't ha-have to do that."

"Yeah, Loser-Enma can go play somewhere else. You can stay." The mean boy from earlier told her haughtily, his friends behind him nodding in agreement.

"No, thanks. I've had enough of playing here. Let's go, Enma-kun." She took the surprised red-haired boy's hand and walked them away, ignoring the bullies' sputtering. She headed towards the exit of the park, looking for an ice-cream or convenience store around.

"W-why did y-you do that?" The quiet whisper almost went unnoticed due to the noise around them and she squeezed her friend's hand comfortingly. She stopped them at a relatively quiet corner and raised the boy's lowered head tenderly to make him look at her.

"You're my friend, Enma-kun." She said softly, staring at his forlorn, pretty red eyes.

"B-but y-you'll end up being hurt if you continue to be seen with m-me." He stuttered with surprising vehemence. "I don't want you to be hurt because you're my friend." He continued firmly.

She smiled at him, pleased at the vocal confirmation of their friendship and his words.

"I don't care much about bullies, Enma-kun," the redhead blinked in confusion. "The girls at my school bully me too, you know?"

"W-what? B-but why would they do that? You're one of the most amazing person I know!" Chiyo blushed at the compliment, no one other than her mama had ever praised her so sincerely.

"I don't know either. I guess they just don't really like me that much." She shrugged, licking her front teeth unconsciously.

"They must be really stupid, then." Her friend frowned, clearly upset.

"Let's not think about it, alright? Do you know of any good ice-cream shop nearby?" She asked him, inwardly uncomfortable with thinking about anything negative right now. They were supposed to be enjoying themselves, not brooding about people who didn't even merit a sliver of their attention and she'd rather forget about.

Her friend, the term still made her smile brightly, nodded and led her towards a nice looking store on a busy street, not making any moves to pull his hand away from hers. She picked the green tea flavor, a small-sized cup for her while the other chose a small-sized cone with strawberry and chocolate flavor. She pulled the money mama gave her earlier and paid for the both of them, soundly ignoring the protests of her friend.

"You can pay next time, alright? It's my treat today since I was the one who wanted ice-cream." She told him brightly, inwardly squealing with joy at having secured another meeting with him when he nodded hesitantly.

She didn't miss the cashier's cheeky wink and thumbs up at her and she grinned cheerily in response.

.

.

* * *

.

.

 _("Kids these days," a certain business manager and cashier of a particular ice-cream shop shook her head in exaggerated exasperation, a devious smile painted on her lips. "No matter, more clients and money to me~" She cackled evilly._

 _A teenage boy sweatdropped at her aunt's weirdness._

 _"Do I even want to know?" He looked back at the giggling woman and inwardly shuddered when he saw her creepily muttering to herself like a demented witch and decided that no, he did not need the mental trauma and promptly went back with to single-mindedly focus at cleaning the tables._

 _It really was no question that the old hag was still single and probably a virgin._

 _He pitied the poor soul that was her soul-mate._

 _In the far away land that was known as Italia to its natives, a hooded baby sneezed suddenly._

 _"Mou, I better not be sick." He lamented monotonously, thinking of the entire bill of the medicine needed for a powerful and sick mist such as them._

 _"Belphegor needs to pay me with interest for infecting me, mou.")_


End file.
